25 November has been designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by the United Nations since 1999. The idea is for governments, international organizations and NGOs to shed light on this problem, the real nature and magnitude of which more often than not remains out of public view.

Artists are often the first to react to injustices and painful problems – as is the case with Teodora Marcheva who wrote and performed her song Hell based on her own experience from a previous relationship.

“It is about my first relationship which was highly traumatic. On the whole, it tells the story of this relationship in which there was psychological abuse – because abuse is not necessarily physical, it is psychological too - and psychological abuse is just as bad as physical abuse. Of course, every situation is different,” says Teodora Marcheva.

Teodora says that people become abusers because they themselves have been victims of violence, especially in early childhood. Abusers are traumatized people, people who need attention. What matters most is not to allow any violence in the family because that is where a child’s normal development begins, she says. But the importance of being empathic is something that should be nurtured at school as well. The widespread mindset in this country is hidebound, as a society we all need to take a stand against violence, it is our duty, Teodora Marcheva believes.

“I would like to see us all become better persons, and not just in Bulgaria. I would like to see people think more about others, and understand that one of the most important things in life is to help others. And that if you are alone – you have nothing. I would like to see people take better care of mental health in Bulgaria, because, as I said, there is a stigma here that this is all nonsense, which is so far from the truth.”

• Demonstrations against violence against women to be held in many Bulgarian cities
  
• Domestic violence victims up by 84.9% in the space of one year
  
• Tragic toll: Dozens of women lost to domestic violence in 2023
  

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova